Wooden building construction



Feb. 27, 1934-. H. D. TIEMANN 1,948,950

WOODEN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 6, 1932 "IQIHI INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 27, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Harry Donald Tiemann, Madison, Wis., dedicated to the free use of the Public Application September 6, 1932 Serial No. 631,813

2 Claims.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) This application is made under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended by the act of April 30, 1928, and the invention herein described may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

I hereby dedicate this invention to the free use of the Government and the people of the United States.

My invention consists of a new method of building construction, utilizing certain unit blocks of lumber or other material made into definite shapes to be described hereafter which I designate wood-tiles; for the purpose of increasing the beneficial utilization of lumber for the common people, and at the same time effecting an economy in the lumber industry by making use of short pieces which are now waste material or difficult to dispose of at the mills. Another purpose is for ease, simplicity, speed, and flexibility of construction, so that a small building may be quickly erected single-handed and the builder need have no previous knowledge of carpentry or building construction. Another distinct purpose is for the instruction and useful occupation or children, as the tiles may be made half or twothirdssize for childrens outdoor play houses. On account of the ease of handling and flexibility in design, they may be used by even young children and should not only amuse them but draw out their ingenuity in design by erecting buildings of various shapes.

The object of my invention is to increase the beneficial utilization of lumber and at the same time effect an economy in the lumber industry by making use of short pieces which are now waste material or diflicult to dispose of at the mills. Also for the ease, simplicity and flexibility of construction, so that a small building may be quickly erected single-handed and the builder need have no previous knowledge of carpentry or building construction. Also for the instruction and useful occupation of children. On account of the ease of handling and flexibility of design, the tiles, made in reduced size, may be used by young children and should not only amuse them but draw out their ingenuity in design.

The main idea which led to my invention was for some means towards a greater utilization of lumber, thus assisting to revivifying the lumber industry (but I do not restrict my claims to lumber alone, as obviously plywood, Wallboard, pressed wood, plaster, paper, or other materials may be substituted for lumber without in any way changing the principle of construction;

namely, individual constructional units which interlock with one another, and form a substantial wall, each unit built up of a plurality of pieces).

The principal application of the wood tiles is thought to be for small buildings, especially where temporary structures are desired such as garages, summer cottages, exhibit stalls, fair buildings, shelters for athletic events, lawn parties, sheds of all kinds, farm buildings, and childrens play houses. Also by omitting the siding on one side, the same construction may be used for concrete forms.

The advantages claimed for the wood tiles may be briefly summarized as follows:

1. Utilization of short lengths of lumber now a loss at the sawmills.

2. Rapid, single-handed, and simple construction, the tiles being of uniform standard shapes, light in weight, clean to handle and requiring no sawing or fitting. In fact, a child can put up a house.

3 There is no waste in building and the material is so neat that all muss and clutter is done away with. A temporary building could be erected on a lawn without mussing up the ground.

4. Flexibility. A preliminary plan is not necessary. The builder can plan his building as he goes and if he so desires can take down portions and rebuild them, like a child builds with blocks.

5. A building may be taken down and the tiles used over again; there is no loss.

6 On account of the short lengths used, the lumber will dry quickly and it can be easily impregnated with fire-proofing or preservative chemicals. The wood' tiles may also be painted .0 and insulated at the assembly plant if so desired.

The sticks are cut to size at the mills, shipped in solid packages, and assembled at numerous small. distributing centers. The assemblage is so simple that no complicated machinery is needed .5 for nailing the pieces together. A very simple form of nailing machine is all that is required so that their assemblage can be accomplished at retail lumber yards.

The tiles are designed in such a manner that they interlock one with another, and in such manner that where greater stiffness and permanence is desired the overlapping portions may be nailed together after the wall. has been erected. One standardshape for the main building tile is furnished but on account of staggering the tiles in adjacent rows an end tile of, half length is necessary for ends of walls and around windows and doors. Also, for corners special corner tiles are needed, two rights and two lefts, making six standard shapes in all. These may be referred to, for convenience, as A, B, C, D, E, F. Other special tiles may be furnished as desired for special places.

In regard to dimensions, I do not restrict my application to any limit in sizes. For ordinary use it is thought that a length for the standard A tile would be 32 inches to conform to standard building construction and the width of the side boards 8 inches. The side boards may be tongued and grooved for the better construction. The uprights might be half the thickness of ordinary studding the same width or wider and of lengths to comport with the width of the side boards used. Thus for 8-inch sides boards the uprights would be 16 inches long For greater rigidity plywood or cleats may be nailed on the outside into the studding, or full length studs may be inserted, after the wall has been built.

While I have used the word tile to denote the individual units it is obvious that the boards on one side may be omited, thus producing a wall with open or exposed studding, without violating the principle.

Referring to the drawing; it will be seen that Fig. 1 shows a side elevation and a top plan view of the two principal building units A and B, the small leters a, b, referrintg to like dimensions, respectively. v

Fig. 2 represents a top plan view of the two corner tiles 0 and D, together with a short broken off portion of the abutting wall at right angles thereto.

Fig. 3 represents a side elevation of a portion of a built-up wall, with the front siding removed. The tiles A and B are labeled accordingly. The alternate rows are shaded together with their own respective vertical members so as to more clearly indicate how the vertical members of one tile interlock with the vertical members of the adjacent tiles above andbelow. Thus, the shaded sides and shaded vertical members pertain to identical tiles, and so likewise with the unshaded sides and unshaded vertical members, respectively.

A top view and elevation of each of the two principal tiles A and B is shown in Figure 1. In Figure 2 is shown the two special corner tiles C and D, only the top view being necessary; for simplicity the mortised members and the tongue and groove edges are not indicated in the drawing, nor the fastenings. The manner in which the tiles interlock by means of the extension of the upright pieces is shown in Figure 3. In order to show which uprights belong to which tiles,

Figure 3 is drawn with the side boards facing the reader removed and the alternate layers of tiles are shaded to comport with their shaded uprights. The uprights which are not shaded belong to the alternate layers of tiles which are left unshaded in the drawing.

It will be observed that the design is such that the uprights form vertical columns in pairs of two in thickness and that these pairs of vertical pieces are also staggered. The individual upright pieces abut end to end, and sustain the weight of the building and also any stresses induced by shrinkage of the side boards and they may be mortised to fit into one another or otherwise reinforced for greater rigidity. The design is such that all of the tiles interlock in this manner and are interchangeable with tiles of like designation. As each upright overlaps above and below the side boards of adjacent tiles, it is possible to greatly strengthen the structure after the wall is built by nailing cleats on the outside fast to the sectional studding or nailing on plywood or other siding through to the uprights. Additional reinforcement may be brought about by nailing braces diagonally on the wall after it is erected; also by the insertion of unbroken vertical members and of tie rods after the wall is erected.

It is evident that square end walls are always attainable by means of the alternate short tiles so that rectangular openings for doors and windows may readily be provided wherever desired, but the outside horizontal dimensions of such openings must be some multiple of a half tile length; for example, 16, 32, 48 inches, etc.

In usual construction the uprights for the bottom layer may project upward only, making the bottom flush with the lower edge of the side boards, the wall resting upon a fiat foundation or sill at the bottom; or the projections may be left to form a tie to the foundation to which they may be securely fastened. The same in reverse direction applies to the top layer so that a rail may be nailed along the top to receive the rafters or the second-floor joists. For the gable ends of a peaked roof extra triangularshaped tiles are required as fillers on the two sloping sides. Ordinary roof construction, either fiat, gable, or hipped, may be used the usual manner, or the rafters may be made up in sectional units to be subsequently bolted or nailed together and covered with shingles, paper, or whatever i'oofingmaterial is desired. Special shaped tiles may be designed for special featiues, but detailed description of these will be unnecessary as the claims are for the principal wall building tiles. While I have illustrated a certain shape and size of tile, I do not restrict my claims to the specific design illustrated.

1' claim:

1. Constructional units built of a plurality of pieces of lumber in the form of box-like tiles, the vertical sides or partitions of which project in such a way as to interlock with similar units above and below in such a manner that they may be fastened together by means of the interlocking parts to form a wall; and that the uprights when the tiles are placed together are grouped into pairs forming vertical columns, the successive in- I dividual uprights in each half column being staggered with the successive individual uprights of the adjacent half column, so as to break joints and form a built up column; while at the same time the horizontal pieces which form the side or sides of the wall in the adjacent horizontal rows are also uniformly staggered respectively with the rows above and below, substantially as described.

2. Constructional units built of a plurality of pieces of lumber in the form of box-like tiles the vertical sides or partitions of which project in such a way as to interlock with similar units above and below in such a manner that they may be fastened together by means of the interlocking parts to form a wall; and that the uprights when the tiles are placed together form vertical columns, the contacting individual uprights of adjacent tiles being staggered in the vertical direction so as to break joints and form a rigid column common to the adjacent tiles, substantially as described.

HARRY DONALD TIEMANN. 

